Can a shift in thought boost not only Commonwealth Games success but future wellbeing?

If you’re from anywhere in the British Commonwealth, it’s fairly certain that the XX Commonwealth Games are in your thoughts right now as competitors line up with some of the best in the world in Glasgow.

With over 400 athletes hailing from Australia and a swag of medals already in the bag we are again asserting a claim to being the Number One sporting nation in the British Commonwealth.

One of our greatest Commonwealth and Olympic Games swimmers, breaking 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle world records, was Kieren Perkins, O.A.M.

When asked how he achieved such feats he answered, “Being your best is not so much about overcoming the barriers other people place in front of you as it is about overcoming the barriers we place in front of ourselves”.

As personal bests are beaten and world records fall, many thoughtful people admit that health, like sporting success, is about overcoming the barriers we believe — not just about what’s going on physically but what’s happening mentally.

“Muscles are not self-acting. If mind does not move them, they are motionless,” wrote 19th Century mind-body researcher and spiritual visionary, Mary Baker Eddy, and demonstrated the idea in physical healing.

In the same fashion, Perkins demonstrated that a humble emphasis on personal best rather than competition harvested great rewards for him.

He must have also replaced the limiting mental weights of genetic imperfection and physicality, negativity, ugly competitiveness, self-criticism and censure by others, and frustration at the repetitive nature of his sport with trust in his ability, as well as joy in his discipline.

Eddy’s Mind science might explain his success this way: “Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm of Mind. Mind’s infinite ideas run and disport themselves. In humility they climb the heights of holiness.” And by Mind, she meant the Divine.

Eddy became an advocate for a mental and spiritual approach to life, including career, relationships and healthcare. Her Biblically-based healing and empowering system underscores the reasons for success or failure in athletics or other life spheres.

There are a growing number of health professionals who support these ideas by pointing out that obsessions with fitness and weight loss have limited success for most of us, while we overlook a yearning for meaning in life.

In my own experience, although I’ve never considered swimming for mile upon mile in competition, I’ve found that concentration, focus, and training are quite necessary for health and success.

For me that includes taking time out each day to affirm my divine capacities while also celebrating others’ examples of spiritual intelligence, or how they utilize spirituality to elevate their lives.

As you cheer on these athletes in the spirit of Commonwealth togetherness, take time to also celebrate their spiritual nature and the God-like qualities they are expressing because these qualities are also yours to enjoy.

Comments

I firmly believe that we are what we think. We must be very firm with our mind as it seem s to prefer us to think negative thoughts. However, when you think spiritually you can determine your own mindset especially with the thought that we all are special children of God and he does not want us to fail.

One of the most outstanding examples of how our inner thoughts can affect us in the sporting field is how it can affect tennis players. If they are thinking negatively it shows in their whole demeanour – drooping shoulders, listless walk, downcast features and they are convincing themselves that they cannot win the game. – therefore they are lost before they even try. Musicians also have to overcome the hurdle of thinking they are not good enough before they can become successful.

It is the same in our personal lives. If we convince ourselves that people don’t really like us then we cannot interact with them. If, however, we approach it from a spiritual aspect that we are loved and wanted then we can go on from there and show that we also love people and can interact with them.

My approach to this is simple as I am not a scholar but it has worked in my life and is still working. If you can cultivate this approach to life then you will find that you can also sleep at night as you have learned not to worry.

Sounds like you’re putting into practice some really positive thinking, Glenis. It’s great to know that we don’t need to try to do it from the standpoint of a tiny human mind, but “with God (the divine Mind) all things are possible”.